Property Rights, Small Woodlot Owners and Forest Management in Nova Scotia

Abstract

This paper explores the political, economic and social power structure in the forest of Nova Scotia through the history of forest tenures and forest management, focussing on small woodlot owners. In forest management, one assumption holds that small woodlot owners strongly believe in the notion of private property rights; the other holds that it is unacceptable to interfere with such rights except through educational and voluntary programmes. We question these assumptions. In Nova Scotia, the state’s alleged protection of property rights has been rhetorical and highly selective. Property rights have been contested. Individual property rights, common property rights and open access arrangements have been eroded while corporate property rights have been enhanced. The ascendancy and pre-eminence of the latter are not a function of a natural order. There are precedents for different sets of rules, even within capitalism, as illustrated both by the history of Nova Scotia and by conditions in other jurisdictions.